10) Mystery Men
Mystery Men is a film perfect for a list like this becuase of how it not only serves as an entry into the superhero genre, but shows tremendous skill at playing around with and subverting superhero film tropes. It’s the Zoolander of superhero comedies, and I’m not just saying that because Ben Stiller stars.
Mystery Men stars Stiller, William H. Macy and Hank Azaria as Mr. Furious, The Shoveler, and The Blue Raja, respectively, a trio of misfit superheroes with unimpressive powers. They are continually upstaged by world-famous hero Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), who becomes bored by his own effectiveness at stopping crime and uses his alter ego, a billionaire lawyer, to argue for the release of insane supervillain Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush). His plan backfires, of course, and when he’s captured by Frankenstein and his goons, it’s up to Mr. Furious and his team to save the day.
Mystery Men plays out like a street-level Avengers, as Mr. Furious, the Shoveler, and Blue Raja are forced to recruit more heroes into their team to go up against Frankenstein. The movie is goofy as hell and definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s just ridiculous enough to be a funny satire of superhero films and an enjoyable cult classic.
